Lecture#6: Network Layer
Internetworking
Introduction to Networks v7.0 (ITN) Module: 8
6.1 Layer 3 Characteristics
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Network Layer Characteristics
The Network Layer
Network layer provides services to allow end devices to exchange data
• IP version 4 (IPv4) and IP version 6 (IPv6) are the principle network layer communication
protocols.
• The network layer performs four basic operations: i) Addressing end devices, ii) Encapsulation,
iii) Routing and iv) De-encapsulation.
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Network Layer Characteristics
IP Encapsulation
• IP encapsulates the transport layer segment.
• IP can use either an IPv4 or IPv6 packet
and not impact the layer 4 segment.
• IP packet will be examined by all layer 3
devices as it traverses the network.
• The IP addressing does not change from
source to destination.
Note: NAT will change addressing, but will be discussed in a later module.
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Network Layer Characteristics
Characteristics of IP
IP is meant to have low overhead and may be described as:
• Connectionless
• Best Effort
• Media Independent
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Network Layer Characteristics
Connectionless
IP is Connectionless
• IP does not establish a connection with the destination before sending the packet.
• There is no control information needed (synchronizations, acknowledgments, etc.).
• The destination will receive the packet when it arrives, but no pre-notifications are sent
• If there is a need for connection-oriented traffic, then another protocol will handle this
(typically TCP at the transport layer).
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Network Layer Characteristics
Best Effort
IP is Best Effort
• IP will not guarantee delivery of the packet.
• IP has reduced overhead since there is no
mechanism to resend data that is not
received.
• IP does not expect acknowledgments.
• IP does not know if the other device is
operational or if it received the packet.
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Network Layer Characteristics
Media Independent
IP is unreliable:
• It cannot manage or fix undelivered or corrupt packets.
• IP cannot retransmit after an error.
• IP cannot realign out of sequence packets.
• IP must rely on other protocols for these functions.
IP is media Independent:
• IP does not concern itself with the type of frame
required at the data link layer or the media type at
the physical layer.
• IP can be sent over any media type: copper, fiber,
or wireless.
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Network Layer Characteristics
Media Independent (Contd.)
The network layer will establish the MTU.
• Network layer receives this from control information
sent by the data link layer.
• The network then establishes the MTU size.
Fragmentation is when Layer 3 splits the IPv4 packet into smaller units.
• Fragmenting causes latency.
• IPv6 does not fragment packets.
• Example: Router goes from Ethernet to a slow WAN with a smaller MTU
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6.2 IPv4 Packet
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IPv4 Packet
IPv4 Packet Header
• IPv4 is the primary communication protocol for the network layer.
• The network header has many purposes:
§ It ensures the packet is sent in the correct direction (to the destination).
§ It contains information for network layer processing in various fields.
§ The information in the header is used by all layer 3 devices that handle the
packet
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IPv4 Packet
IPv4 Packet Header Fields
The IPv4 network header characteristics:
• It is in binary.
• Contains several fields of information
• Diagram is read from left to right, 4
bytes per line
• The two most important fields are the
source and destination.
Protocols may have may have one or more
functions.
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IPv4 Packet
IPv4 Packet Header Fields
Significant fields in the IPv4 header:
Function Description
Version This will be for v4, as opposed to v6, a 4 bit field= 0100
Differentiated Services Used for QoS: DiffServ – DS field or the older IntServ – ToS or
Type of Service
Header Checksum Detect corruption in the IPv4 header
Time to Live (TTL) Layer 3 hop count. When it becomes zero the router will discard
the packet.
Protocol I.D.s next level protocol: ICMP, TCP, UDP, etc.
Source IPv4 Address 32 bit source address
Destination IPV4 Address 32 bit destination address
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6.3 IPv6 Packets
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IPv6 Packets
Limitations of IPv4
IPv4 has three major limitations:
• IPv4 address depletion – We have basically run out of IPv4 addressing.
• Lack of end-to-end connectivity – To make IPv4 survive this long, private
addressing and NAT were created. This ended direct communications with public
addressing.
• Increased network complexity – NAT was meant as temporary solution and creates
issues on the network as a side effect of manipulating the network headers
addressing. NAT causes latency and troubleshooting issues.
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IPv6 Packets
IPv6 Overview
• IPv6 was developed by Internet
Engineering Task Force (IETF).
• IPv6 overcomes the limitations of IPv4.
• Improvements that IPv6 provides:
• Increased address space – based on
128 bit address, not 32 bits
• Improved packet handling – simplified
header with fewer fields
• Eliminates the need for NAT – since
there is a huge amount of addressing,
there is no need to use private
addressing internally and be mapped to
a shared public address.
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IPv6 Packets
IPv4 Packet Header Fields in the IPv6 Packet Header
• The IPv6 header is simplified,
but not smaller.
• The header is fixed at 40 Bytes
or octets long.
• Some IPv4 fields like Flag,
Fragment Offset, Header
Checksum etc were removed
to improve performance:
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IPv6 Packets
IPv6 Packet Header
Significant fields in the IPv6 header:
Function Description
Version This will be for v6, as opposed to v4, a 4 bit field= 0110
Traffic Class Used for QoS: Equivalent to DiffServ – DS field
Flow Label Informs device to handle identical flow labels the same way, 20 bit
field
Payload Length This 16-bit field indicates the length of the data portion or payload
of the IPv6 packet
Next Header I.D.s next level protocol: ICMP, TCP, UDP, etc.
Hop Limit Replaces TTL field Layer 3 hop count
Source and Destination 128 bit source and destination addresses
IPv6 Addresses
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IPv6 Packets
IPv6 Packet Header (Cont.)
IPv6 packet may also contain extension headers (EH).
EH headers characteristics:
• provide optional network layer information
• are optional
• are placed between IPv6 header and the payload
• may be used for fragmentation, security, mobility support, etc.
Note: Unlike IPv4, routers do not fragment IPv6 packets.
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6.4 How a Host Routes
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How a Host Routes
Host Forwarding Decision
• Packets are always created at the
source.
• Each host devices creates their
own routing table.
• A host can send packets to the following:
• Itself – 127.0.0.1 (IPv4), ::1 (IPv6)
• Local Hosts – destination is on the same LAN
• Remote Hosts – devices are not on the same LAN
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How a Host Routes
Host Forwarding Decision (Cont.)
• The Source device determines whether the destination is local or remote
• Method of determination:
• IPv4 – Source uses its own IP address
and Subnet mask, along with the
destination IP address
• IPv6 – Source uses the network
address and prefix advertised by the
local router
• Local traffic is dumped out the host interface to be handled by an intermediary
device.
• Remote traffic is forwarded directly to the default gateway on the LAN.
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How a Host Routes
Default Gateway
• A router or layer 3 switch can be a default-gateway.
• Features of a default gateway (DGW):
§ It must have an IP address in the same range as the rest of the LAN.
§ It can accept data from the LAN and is capable of forwarding traffic off of the
LAN.
§ It can route to other networks.
• If a device has no default gateway or a bad default gateway, its traffic will
not be able to leave the LAN.
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How a Host Routes
A Host Routes to the Default Gateway
• The host will know the default gateway (DGW) either statically or through DHCP in
IPv4.
• IPv6 sends the DGW through a router solicitation (RS) or can be configured
manually.
• A DGW is static route which will be a
last resort route in the routing table.
• All device on the LAN will need the
DGW of the router if they intend to
send traffic remotely.
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How a Host Routes
Host Routing Tables
• On Windows, route print or netstat -r to display the PC routing table
• Three sections displayed by
these two commands:
§ Interface List – all potential
interfaces and MAC addressing
§ IPv4 Routing Table
§ IPv6 Routing Table
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